Nepotism (E-33)
Original Implementation: Unpublished
Last Revision: April 17, 2012
For this policy, the term “relative” shall mean those individuals within the second degree of affinity (marriage) or third degree of consanguinity (blood), defined as follows:
Relatives of a person within the second degree of affinity include the spouse of the person and the parents, children, brothers, sisters, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts, and first cousins of the employee's spouse.
Relatives of a person within the third degree of consanguinity include the parents, children, brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-grandparents.
An adopted child is treated as the natural child of the adoptive parents.
These rules concerning nepotism apply to all employees of the university including students, whether employed full or part-time. Employees are required to disclose the existence of any relationship that may be or cause a violation of this policy.
A university employee may not hire, appoint, or confirm the appointment of a relative for a university position of employment or take any action with regard to the relative’s promotion, salary or supervision.. If an appointment, reappointment, reclassification, promotion or other action places a person under the supervision of a relative, all subsequent actions with regard to the terms and conditions of employment, including the annual performance evaluation, is the responsibility of the next highest administrative supervisor. This shall further apply in situations where two employees marry and one spouse is the administrative supervisor of the other.
No relative of a member of the Board of Regents may be employed for any position with the university. However, an exception to this rule will be made in cases where the relative has been continuously employed in the position for a period of thirty (30) days prior to the appointment of the related regent. When a relative is allowed to continue in a position because of the operation of this exception, the regent who is related to such person in the prohibited degree shall not participate in the deliberation or voting upon the appointment, reappointment, employment, confirmation, reemployment, change in status, compensation, or dismissal of the relative, if such action applies only to the relative and is not taken with respect to a bona fide class or category of employees.
An individual who violates this policy may be subject to criminal penalties and/or dismissal from employment.
Cross Reference: Tex. Gov’t Code Ch. 573; Non-Academic Employee Handbook
Responsible for Implementation: Vice President for Finance and Administration
Contact for Revision: Director of Human Resources and General Counsel
Forms: None
Board Committee Assignment: Academic and Student Affairs